Attracts birds

Bushy Bluestem is a tufting, sturdy, warm-season grass that may grow 2 to 6 feet in height. Interesting, beard-like flowers appear in fall. This plant prefers moist to damp sites and is not drought tolerant & has high flammability (do not plant near your home).  This plant has green leaves in…

The Black cherry is an important southern tree for both wild life and commercially. Young black cherries tend to have a conical crown but when given enough room, the mature trees develop long limbs and arching branches giving it an oval shaped crown. The Black cherry’s fall foliage is a golden…

Piedmont Staggerbush is a cute little shrub, averaging three to six feet tall. It is an upright shrub with alternate, simple, and oblong leaves. The flowers bloom in clusters of racemes of columnar-shaped, white to pink flowers. It grows well along marshes and shrubby swamps, but also wood edges and well-drained…

Aronia prunifolia or Purple Chokeberry is a natural hybrid between A. arbutifolia (Red Chokeberry), and A. melanocarpa (Black Chokeberry), a more mountainous species. All three Chokeberries have very diferent distribution maps. Purple Chokeberry is much less abundant than the Red Chokeberry. It is much like Red Chokeberry in habit, that is,…

Horsemint or Spotted Beebalm is an erect, mostly unbranched, perennial wildflower, instantly recognized by its unusual “stacked” arrangement of multiple whorls of two-lipped, cream-colored, purple-speckled tubular flowers on the same stem. Each whorl is subtended by attractive and persistent pink to lavender leaf-like bracts. Leaves are narrow with a fine grayish-white…

Common Witchhazel is a deciduous shrub 12-18′ tall, and sometimes taller, famous for producing its aromatic, crinkly yellow flowers as it drops its foliage in late October/early November. Seeds from the previous season are ready for dispersal at the same time, and are expelled with some force from their capsules. Witchhazel…

Swamp Sunflower is a clump-forming, upright, late-blooming perennial sunflower — the latest flowering of the sunflowers (October and even November). It is found in bottomlands, swamps, and other natural wet habitats as well as in disturbed wet areas, on roadsides and in ditches. It thrives in full sun in moist soils…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   John Clayton’ is a cultivar of Coral Honeysuckle’s forma sulphurea (yellow form). It has the same charming leaf forms as Coral Honeysuckle and lovely warm yellow 2-inch trumpet-shaped flowers. It blooms in late spring,…

Garden Phlox is a staple of the late summer and early fall garden and ‘Jeana’ is a super-rewarding cultivar of it to grow. It provides wonderful color with its bright pink, aromatic flower clusters, attractive to people, butterflies and hummingbirds alike. Named after a woman in Nashville who identified this genotype,…

The beloved Highbush Blueberry is a deciduous shrub native to much of Eastern North America, with outstanding landscape value over three seasons. It’s clusters of dainty, hanging, bell-shaped, white-pink flowers are lovely in spring, followed by tasty blue berries that ripen in summer. These are valued by humans, birds, and smaller…

Mapleleaf Viburnum is native to much of Eastern North America, inhabiting upland, dry woods. In NC, it is reported in mountain and piedmont counties only. It is a smaller member of the Viburnum genus, averaging only 4-6 feet tall. It suckers strongly, however, and forms colonies of sparsely branched shoots, and…

Southern Arrowwood is a dense, 8-10-foot shrub native to Eastern U.S. It is composed of many upright, spreading, straight stems and bears typical-Viburnum 3-inch, flat-topped corymbs of small creamy white flowers followed in mid-summer by blue-black seeds which generously support a range of birds and other animals. It is so useful…

Possumhaw Viburnum is a 12-15-foot tall (some report up to 20 feet) x 12-15-foot wide, deciduous, wet-tolerant shrub of surprising ornamental value found in Eastern states from Texas north to Canada. It ioccurs in all three NC zones, mountains, piedmont and coastal plain, though in the mountains the quite similar Viburnum…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   Cranberrybush Viburnum or Highbush Cranberry is a dense, arching, deciduous shrub six to ten feet (or even taller) native all across Canada and our northern states down as far as a couple of counties…

Smooth Blackhaw, native to much of mid-latitude Eastern and central U.S., is a large deciduous shrub or small tree which usually grows to around 15 feet tall and wide, but if grown as a single-stemmed tree form, it can reach up to 30 feet. It thrives in full sun to part…

This Viburnum — with its showy, flat-topped or domed white flowers and opposite, toothed leaves typical of Viburnums — stands out from its cousins because in addition to being handsome, it is a well behaved, small (6-foot) shrub that plays well with others. Two of them have volunteered on our property…

Rusty Blackhaw is one of our Southern woodland viburnums whose range is central and southeastern U.S. In NC it occurs mostly in piedmont and coastal plain counties. It is a deciduous, dense, showy, highly arching understory shrub or small tree. Mature height is about 18′, but can be taller if grown…

Blue-Eyed Grass is a graceful and fetching herbaceous perennial in the Iris family which resembles a small bunch grass — until it flowers. Blue, 6-parted, with pointed tepals (petals and sepals) with golden centers, the distinctly not-grassy flowers are held on flattened, branched flower stalks just a bit above the straplike…

Wreath (or Bluestem) Goldenrod could have been so named for its plant form, growing to 2-3′ in gracefully arching, mostly unbranched shoots with bright flowers positioned in the axils of leaves all along the stems. It is smaller and less aggressive than most of its cousins, and more suitable for cultivation…

Sweet Goldenrod is found in open woods and savannahs in coastal states from New Hampshire south to Florida and over to east Texas, and inland as far as Missouri. (In northern Florida there is a separate subspecies, Chapmanii.) It occurs in most of the counties of NC. Sweet Goldenrod grows to…

Our area (NC and surrounding states) represents the southern tip of the range for this shrub, which is much more common to the north. In NC and Va it occurs in some mountain counties and some coastal plain/lower piedmont counties. The common name “Steeplebush” reflects it’s pink steeple-like blooms in late…

This super-attractive, butterfly-drawing herbaceous perennial is small (1-2′ high x 1-2′ wide) with large (2-3 inch) very showy, usually single flowers ranging from cornflower blue (most often) to lavender and even, occasionally, white. The flower structure of Stokes aster reflects its membership in the Aster family: deeply notched blue or lavender…

Iteaceae is a family of only one genus of trees and shrubs, and of the 27 species in that genus, Itea is the only one found in the U.S. (the vast majority of the others being from east Asia). Virginia Sweetspire, as often known as Itea, is a versatile and lovely…

This herbaceous perennial is most rewarding to grow. From an attractive persistent basal rosette, vigorous, sturdy stems with dark green foliage rise to about 3 feet, terminating in branched panicles of numerous, showy, bright white, 1-inch tubular flowers which last a long time for an early season plant (spring to early…

Coralberry is a very showy colonial shrub native in the eastern and central United States, as well as central Canada (Ontario) and northeastern Mexico. It reaches 4+ feet, with smooth, opposite, dull green, oval-shaped leaves and shreddy bark. Greenish white flowers are tucked under the leaves in early summer, developing later…

The common Blue Wood Aster (of which ‘Avondale’ is a cultivar) is an herbaceous perennial native to a huge swath of north-central-eastern North America, and the counties in NC where it is reported represent the southeastern tip of its range. Found in dry to moist (well drained) deciduous woodlands and woodland…

Pond Cypress is a deciduous conifer of our Southeastern states which roughly resembles (and is considered by some to be a variety of) Taxodium distichum, or Bald Cypress (See our entry for T. distichum). There are similarities between the two, such as their amazing soil moisture adaptability from standing water to…

Bald Cypress is a stately and long-lived deciduous conifer found throughout the swamps and riparian areas of the southeast, famous for its knobby “knees” and flared or buttressed trunks. It is important for most of us non-swamp dwellers, though, because Bald Cypress can also thrive in well drained upland soils. Since…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use. Sparkleberry or (Farkleberry) is an attractive, tough, underused woodland shrub usually eight to ten feet in height, though occasuinally it takes on a tree form. It is found in dry woods and open forests from…

Rhus aromatica, or Fragrant Sumac, is a deciduous, thicket-forming shrub found in dry, open woods in most states of eastern U.S. (In NC, it is found mostly in piedmont counties.) Fragrant Sumac has a variable, sprawling, irregular form. It is reported by some to grow as tall as 12 feet in…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  Black-Eyed Susan ‘Goldsturm’ — sometimes called “Orange Coneflower” even though it is neither orange nor an Echinacea — is one of the most popular, tried and true garden perennials. These beautiful golden flowers are easy…

This natural variety of Black-Eyed Susan is found in meadows and on roadsides in the eastern United States from New York to the Florida panhandle and west to Illinois and Mississippi. It is a lovely wildflower, hugely useful in the garden. The plant is 2-3′ high x 1.5 – 2′ wide…

Elderberry is a vigorous, beautiful shrub commonly observed on roadsides and in hedgerows and disturbed areas in most NC counties and most states as well. It is a a vigorous grower, 5-12′ in height and spread, with arching branches which support numerous flat-topped white flower clusters in mid-summer. These retain their…

Dwarf Coastal Azalea, one of the smaller native azaleas at about 6 feet (with more exposure to light, usually on the order of 4 feet), occurs in sand hill and coastal communities from southern New Jersey to Georgia. It is adorned in spring (April, May) with clusters of wonderfully aromatic, funnel-shaped…

The Oconee or Piedmont Azalea is a beautiful deciduous shrub native to woods, slopes, sandhills and edges of stream banks in a few counties in the piedmont of South Carolina and Georgia. It is easy to remember this shrub: Native to a hot area, it is exceptionally heat and drought tolerant…

Swamp Azalea is a shrub up to 8 ft tall at maturity with an upright, loosely branched, multi-stemmed habit and a tantalizing, musky floral scent in late spring. Clusters of very fragrant bright white (often with pink accents), trumpet-shaped flowers with five petals, slender tubes and elegant, exserted stamens appear in…

Wax Myrtle is an amazingly versatile evergreen shrub or small tree which is such a great wildlife plant that it could be useful for increasing the pollinators and birds in your yard. Its foliage is very fragrant, and evergreen, and the blue berries are attractive to people as well as to…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   Blackgum is a stately, medium-sized hardwood tree extremely desirable for its spectacular scarlet fall foliage and its wildlife appeal. It is adapted to a very wide range of habitats from standing water to dry…

Southern Sundrop is a day-flowering perennial (from the Evening Primrose family) native to much of Eastern North America and reported nearly throughout NC. Its habit is upright, (two feet tall x 1.5 feet wide), a little sprawling, with an overwintering evergreen basal rosette. It’s obvious value in the garden is from…

Sensitive Fern is a very handsome, very vigorous, running deciduous perennial fern. It is “sensitive” only to the first frost in the late fall, and perhaps to drought — but very hardy otherwise! It is widely reported to be two- to three-foot tall and taller in wet soil, but we have…

Purple Passion Flower is an attractive, fast -growing perennial vine reported to occur in most counties of NC and in most Southeastern states. Climbing by means of axillary tendrils, it grows to 12 feet (some say up to 25 feet, but we have not seen that) and is naturally found in…

Speckled Phlox is an upright, clumping, herbaceous perennial with beautiful bright clusters of small, aromatic, tubular flowers. It grows in moist meadows, along riverbanks and in bottomland woodland openings in the eastern mountains and piedmont and in the midwest, although it is not really common in the wild. Generally unbranched, the…

‘Blue Arrow’ is a cultivar of Eastern Red Cedar, an evergreen tree of wide variability in form, seen on roadsides and hedgerows throughout the eastern U.S. ‘Blue Arrow’ was selected to provide a reliable, vertical evergreen accent in a more formal landscape. Red Cedar (the species) is dioecious, with seed cones…

Juniperus virginiana is a tough, widely distributed native evergreen tree with many outstanding attributes (see our listing for the species) and ‘Poyo’ is a dwarf, spreading cultivar which displays most of the attributes of the species, but answering a need for a shrub-like form. Since it is asexually propagated (is a…

Dense Blazing Star is a clump-forming perennial found naturally in moist meadows in Eastern North America. In the Carolinas it is reported mostly in coastal counties. Dense Blazing Star gets its name from its spectacular bottle brush flower stalks, which rise straight and sturdy to four or five feet from grass-like…

Spicebush is a shrubby tree — five to ten feet-tall (and often wider than tall) — which has a great many attributes, beginning with its wonderfully spicy-citrusy aromatic foliage. The blooming period for Spicebush occurs during the mid-spring and lasts about 2 weeks. The males (yes, it is dioecious) have showier,…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   Tulip Poplar is a superbly shaped deciduous canopy tree, one of the tallest of the eastern hardwoods. Individuals have reached 190 feet in height, but the average Tulip Poplar is only on the order…

It is a joy to write about Scarlet Honeysuckle today because as I write, the intensely scarlet flowers are brightening up the green world along my driveway. Because it is a climber, the deep crimson color meets the eye at different elevations (although it does not seem to flower on the…

Magnolia virginiana, or Sweetbay Magnolia, is a small tree or shrub at home in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains and piedmont as far north as New York.. With 3- to 5-inch, oval, leathery green leaves with silvery undersides, and beautiful, sweetly-scented, small (3″ wide) ivory flowers in spring and summer,…

‘Taylor’s Rudolph’ is a cultivar of a beautiful and hardy native species of Holly that grows in coastal NC as well as other Southeastern states. Both ‘Taylor’s Rudolph’ and the species are evergreen; both are very adaptable, thriving in a range of cultural conditions from moist to dry, in full sun…

Eastern Red Cedar is a sturdy, aromatic, evergreen, pyramid-shaped or columnar tree which usually grows to about 60 feet, though it can reach 90 feet. This species is considered a pioneer tree that colonizes sunny areas that are relatively dry and sterile. Adapted to dry habitats, it is native throughout central…

Hypericum frondosum, or Golden St. Johnswort (the species) is a small, semi-woody shrub which grows in states all across the Southeast, but is not common. In NC, it is reported to occur in only two counties (in the mountains). Nevertheless, it thrives in our hot and humid piedmont, and should be…

Possomhaw Holly is a deciduous shrub or small, understory tree, averaging fifteen to thirty feet tall (shorter when grown in full sun), with gray, twiggy, horizontal branches. In nature, it occurs in dry woods but more often in river bottoms and wet habitats, from Maryland south to Florida and west to…

Ilex glabra, or Inkberry Holly, is a colonial evergreen shrub with an erect but rounded form, 8 – 10 feet high. If you are not normally fond of prickly holly leaves, Inkberry may be the holly for you: it differs from all other evergreen hollies by lacking spines on the leaves.…

American Holly is a slow-growing, medium sized, evergreen tree known and loved throughout the mid-atlantic, south-central and Gulf state lowlands (in NC, is reported in most counties throughout). An understory tree in our deciduous forests, it generally reaches 40 to 60 feet, with pyramidal form, occasionally much taller. In cultivation, however,…

Winterberry is a handsome deciduous shrub, averaging twelve to fifteen feet tall, with gray, twiggy, horizontal branches and spectacular red berries in winter.. It is native to swampy, wet areas of Eastern North America. Winterberry prefers full sun and moist, well drained, acidic, organic upland soil. However, it can also tolerate…

The Yaupon Holly is a distinctive evergreen native holly found in coastal counties in NC and other Southeastern states over to Texas. It tolerates a whole range of moisture regimes (wet to dry), soil types and pH, sunlight conditions (full sun to shade, but more sun makes more berries), and is…

Sixteen Candles’ Clethra is a more compact cultivar of Clethra alnifolia, a wet-tolerant and beautiful coastal shrub all along the eastern seaboard and southern coastal states. Like the species, ‘Sixteen Candles’ is long-blooming, having sweet-fragrant flowers in the heat of the summer against a rich, medium-to-dark green foliage. But the plant…

Blue Mistflower is a shrub-like herbaceous perennial native to the south-central and eastern portions the U.S. In NC, is is present in most non-mountainous counties. Growing two to three feet tall and as wide, it has opposite, triangular-shaped leaves and masses of tiny, whimsical, fluffy, bright blue-purple disc flowers in clusters,…

Coreopsis auriculata, or “Mouse-eared Coreopsis”, is a sun-loving favorite for the native perennial garden in the Southeast. The flowers are single, about 2 inches across, with a center of golden disk flowers and 8 golden, characteristically toothed petals or ray flowers. They are held at 12 – 24 inches high, well…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use. Lance-leaf Coreopsis or Lance-leaf Tickseed, is a perennial wildflower 2-3 feet tall with striking golden 2-3-inch flowers characteristic of the genus, that is, with about 8 notched sterile ray flowers surrounding a center of many…

Silky Dogwood is a hardy, spreading shrub that grows in moist habitats, mostly by stream banks and wet lowlands in the eastern U.S. While attractive, its ability to draw wildlife to it is also a very strong attribute. It is a medium-size shrub, growing up to ten feet tall and wide,…

American Hazelnut is a medium-sized, deciduous shrub found in moist to dry-mesic woodlands throughout Eastern North America. It is notably absent in the deep South. In North Carolina it is reported only in piedmont and mountain counties. This shrub is valued for its sweet nuts, which are edible either raw or…

Eastern persimmon is a lovely small- to medium-sized tree (up to sixty feet tall x thirty feet in spread) with lustrous foliage, dark green in summer and rich golden in fall, and beautiful bark. A member of the Ebony family, it is prized for its high quality, hard heartwood (used to…

Purple Coneflower is found naturally in meadows and roadsides throughout the Central U.S. The few western counties of NC where Purple Coneflower is reported to occur consitute the easternmost edge of its natural range at our latitude. However, this plant must be the all-time favorite native wildflower for sunny pollinator gardens…

Leatherflower, described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, is a belle of the Southeast. This slender, herbaceous perennial vine is valued for its sheer delicate beauty. The nodding, reddish-purple, bell-shaped flowers are thickly textured and the rosy, recurved petals are cream-colored at the tips and inside. But they do more — the…

Sweet Pepperbush is a beautiful, multi-stemmed woody shrub native to our East coast from Nova Scotia and Maine down to Florida and over to Texas. In NC it is found in swamps and moist woods on the coastal plain and outer piedmont. Clethra is rhizomatous by nature, and if allowed, can…

‘Ruby Spice’ is a cultivar of one of our most beautiful native shrubs, Clethra alnifolia or Sweet Pepperbush. They are deciduous shrubs of medium stature with rich, dark green foliage, and flowers with head-turning, sensuous, honey-sweet scent in mid- to late-summer when few other shrubs are flowering. The flowers of ‘Ruby…

Allegheny Chinquapin is a colonial, multi-stemmed shrub or small tree usually around 15 feet tall, taller if grown with single stem or cultivated with little competition. It is native to dry woods and ridges in the Southeastern states, and grows well where summers are hot. It is considered undervalued as a…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.   Southern Catalpa is a medium-sized (twenty-five to forty feet, sometimes taller) highly ornamental tree bearing large, heart-shaped leaves and strikingly beautiful flowers after about 6 years of age. The leaves are barely expanded in…

New Jersey tea is a compact, deciduous shrub that most often grows to only three feet tall and equally wide. It is common on dry plains, prairies, or similar open areas, on soils that are sandy or rocky, throughout Eastern North America and in the majority of NC counties. Leaves are…

Buttonbush is an open, woody, deciduous shrub usually 5-8′ tall (sometimes taller), with an irregular crown graced with many white, golf ball-sized, spherical flower clusters in June. The shrub is very ornamental, and the white, long lasting, pin-cushion like flowers are more often than not being visited by enthusiastic butterflies and/or…

Eastern Redbud is a lovely, small, (15-20 feet tall x 15-20 feet across) understory tree occurring along streams and wet bottoms as well as on dry slopes and ridges in the Piedmont and some of the mountain counties of the Carolinas. Eastern Redbud is deciduous, very hardy (tough as nails) and…

Found in moist woods, stream banks, limestone glades and rocky bluffs from Virginia south to East Texas, Fringe Tree is an outstanding ornamental shrub or small tree (twelve to twenty feet) well adapted to our climate in the Carolina piedmont. It thrives in moist, fertile, well-drained soils in full sun to…

In North Carolina, Yellowwood is found only in a few of our western-most counties bordering Tennessee, and is among the rarest of our native trees. It is thirty to fifty feet high and nearly that wide at maturity and is prized as an ornamental for its form, for its smooth, Beech-like…

The Shadblow Serviceberry is a large shrub in the Rose family native to moist woods in the Eastern seabord of the U.S. and up into Canada. In NC it is found in counties of the lower Piedmont and Coastal plain. Serviceberry is beloved by native plant lovers for its many fine…

Red Chokeberry is a charming, multi-stemmed, deciduous woody shrub native to Atlantic and Southeastern states. It is found in swamps and wet places, and is therefore very useful for wet areas, but is happy in upland gardens as well and established plants even tolerate drought. This shrub is hard to beat…

River Birch is a graceful, medium-sized (fifty to eightyt feet) deciduous tree with an irregular, open, spreading crown. It is the most heat tolerant of the birches and the only birch that grows in lower elevations in NC. Although it is often found in floodplains and river bottoms, and tolerates wet…

If you think the outrageous color of Beautyberries is as much fun as we do, do not hesitate to grow this loosely open shrub on your property. It is robust and trouble-free, spectacular to look at, and attracts all manner of butterflies and birds. At the same time, it is highly…